McCain touts Iraq progress

Ahead of the testimony of Gen. David Petraeus before Congress this week, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said Monday that the U.S. is “no longer staring into the abyss of defeat” in Iraq.

McCain, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, said President Bush’s decision to send more soldiers to Iraq at the beginning of last year was “a critical moment in our nation’s history” and showed the U.S.’s deep sense of global responsibility.

{mosads}The senator said it is clear that great gains have been made in Iraq in the past year.

“The dramatic reduction in violence has opened the way for a return to something approaching normal political and economic life for the average Iraqi,” McCain said in a speech to the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Kansas City, Mo. “Political reconciliation is occurring across Iraq at the local and provincial grassroots level. Sunni and Shia chased from their homes by terrorist and sectarian violence are returning.”

The Iraq war will likely be a major issue in the general election, and while McCain supported the surge and wants to remain in Iraq until the military has achieved its objectives, the two Democratic candidates, Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) and Barack Obama (Ill.), are advocating troop withdrawals.

“There are those who today argue for a hasty withdrawal from Iraq. Some would withdraw regardless of the consequences,” McCain said. “Others say that we can withdraw now and then return if trouble starts again. What they are really proposing, if they mean what they say, is a policy of withdraw and re-invade.”

The senator added that he could “hardly imagine a more imprudent and dangerous course.”

McCain noted that he does not want to “keep our troops in Iraq a minute longer than necessary to secure our interests there.” However, he argued that a withdrawal should not happen before Iraq can stand on its own as a democracy.

“I believe we can achieve that goal, perhaps sooner than many imagine,” McCain said, before taking a jab at his rivals. “I do not believe that anyone should make promises as a candidate for president that they cannot keep if elected. To promise a withdrawal of our forces from Iraq, regardless of the calamitous consequences to the Iraqi people, our most vital interests and the future of the Middle East, is the height of irresponsibility. It is a failure of leadership.”

In response to McCain’s remarks, Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean criticized the Arizona senator for “irresponsible political attacks,” saying that they are “not a substitute for a workable plan for the future of Iraq, something McCain has consistently refused to outline.”

“Responsible leadership means being honest about your plans for the future, not hiding behind empty rhetoric and shallow attacks. While the voters want change, John McCain is promising more of the same failed Bush policies,” Dean stated.